Lifeline
by Drixxy
Summary: “Nothing?” Keo asked, keeping a close eye on Rika. I shook my head, sitting down. “Can I take a break, please?” He shook his head. “Two more. That’ll reach your maximum, won’t it?” I shrugged. “It could be twelve, it could be more. But this is tiring..
1. Remember

_**This story was inspired and fueled by Papa Roach [: Please support them so they can make me more fuel!**_

_Sequel to Captured_

_Remember__  
_

_Ben_

A blinding light struck my face, the sides of my arms irritated from dry grass. I opened my eyes slowly, aching from the bright sun.

"Where… where am I?"

I knew nothing of this place. Was it a planet I had never visited… or a barren land on my own home world? I stared directly up, looking at the sky. It was a strange blue with a hint of purple mixed in. The sun was colder than I was used to… Did the moon always show in the daytime? Was it ever that big… or that color?

I gripped my left arm in agony, screaming as the nerves began to wake up. I quickly sat up, doubling over. What happened the night before? Was it even the night before that it happened? How long… had it been?

My shoulder and part of my arm was a deep purple, a color that wasn't exactly common on my skin. It was hard rather than plush when I tried pressing my finger on the wound. It didn't give like youthful skin should. It literally felt like poking a wooden board. There was no give and take.

I sighed, groaning with the pain. Was this the result of what ever happened the night before? Was I in a fight? No… I wouldn't have lost if it was a fight. I wouldn't have even received this injury.

My eyes grew wide, a memory flashing before me. "BEN!" it screamed.

That was Rika's voice…

I clutched my arm tighter. "Gwen? Kevin?!" I called out, unwilling to stand up. What if my legs were injured too? I couldn't see them… but I could see my shoulder. For some reason I wasn't wearing a shirt, and that's what seemed the strangest out of all of this.

When no one responded, I knew I was alone. This was a different kind of alone, too. It wasn't just that Gwen and Kevin weren't here. No one was…

"_Come on, Ben. It'll be all right."_

"_Liar."_

I looked around. Those voices sounded familiar… Another memory, probably.

"Rika?!" I called out. Maybe if they weren't here… she was…

The ground shook violently. This wasn't normal, either. It wasn't a natural earthquake. This was man-made, like a WMD **((Weapon of Mass Destruction. Some people don't know these things [: -shrug-))** going off to kill them all. Was I in the middle of a battleground?

I looked around. No dead bodies… It looked like no one had been here in a while. I looked behind me. The grass wasn't depressed, like I'd walked myself out here. Strange…

I looked back down, then at my shoulder. A flashing light caught my eye. The Omnitrix…? I pressed down the faceplate, circling through everyone. They were all there… no one new, and no one old had gone missing. **((For now at least. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the outcome of his aliens.))**

"Benjamin! Get up!"

I turned around suddenly, my back screaming from the contortionist positions I was forcing it into. That man… I've seen him before…

_Blue skin? _I asked myself.

"_Don't worry, Benjamin. I am Tano. Thank you dearly for taking care of our sister. Everything will turn out as planned, Benjamin. Hold your breath."_

Tano…? Who was that?

I quickly turned _back_ around and ducked as the man seemed to be heading straight towards me. Suddenly, his hands planted themselves on my arms and lifted me up. He began pushing me forward at high speeds.

"Run!" he demanded.

All I wanted to do was fall back down and scream in pain. He'd aggravated my injury and it wasn't happy in the least. I nodded slowly, following instructions. Who was I to disagree? What if it meant my life either way? It didn't matter anymore. I've been through worse, right?

I didn't have to trust anyone. I could follow orders and kick their ass if things went wrong. I could fend for myself well enough to know I was safe no matter what I did.

So, then how the hell did I get this injury?!

I couldn't keep up with the blue man, but I knew all I had to do was run in his direction and I would end up somewhere in the end.

"You might want to step to the left a little!" he shouted behind him.

I raised a brow, questioning his reasoning. In any case, I stepped over to the left as I ran. Sure enough, the man had good judgment. A large, odd-looking missile-like object flew straight for me—or at least it would've if I didn't move.

"Whoa! What the _hell_ was that?!" I asked loudly.

"Hold still," a voice demanded. Another blue skinned man appeared a good ten feet in front of me, giving me just enough time to stop running. I stumbled before him. The man grasped my shoulder and a light surrounded us.

I closed my eyes as it grew blindingly bright. Upon reopening them, two other blue-skinned men stood in the room.

"That's it." Now I had to speak up. "Where the _hell_ am I?"

"Shh," one hushed me. "Benjamin, be quiet."

"Why?" I asked quietly.

A cat weaved around my feet, brushing against my legs.

"…" One of the men looked up. "Oh, right. _He's human_," he whispered to another.

"He's happy to see you."

I rolled my eyes. "Duh. Hi," I waved to the cat.

He looked up, meowing pleasantly.

I knew those eyes. They were Aikka's eyes. "Aikka?"

The cat seemed to smile. He meowed again.

"He wants to know why you didn't come sooner."

I looked up. "I need to know where I am," I told them dryly.

"I'm Keo," the one who'd apparently transported us spoke up.

"Tak," the tallest one said.

"Ixxes," the one on the ground smiled.

"You're on Cryogaus," another spoke up, walking into the strange room. "I am Tano. It's nice to see you again, Benjamin."

I laughed nervously. "Ben. It's just Ben."

"Ben…," Ixxes hummed.

I nodded. "You're Rika's brothers, then."

Tano nodded.

"That means… Where was I?" I asked.

"Your cat explained to us that you'd gone back to the jail in self-sacrifice for our sister. I don't know what happened after that."

"Hold still," Tak insisted, taking my head in his hands. "He's going to die in five minutes if you don't do something."

"Wait, what?!"

"Your blood is streaming with a poison. Your heart is failing and… I'm not even going to talk about your arm. You can see it's pretty bad."

I snorted. "Well, that was pretty obvious."

"Sit down. I'll see what I can do," Tano sighed.

I kept my eye on Tak and Tano as I sat down on the dirt floor.

"One hundred and two," Tak told his brother.

"I'll get some water," Ixxes stood up, leaving the room.

"Be careful, Brother!" Keo shouted after him.

"What's going on?" I asked the two who were governing my apparent medical treatment.

Tak turned around, leaving to get supplies from another room.

"You're in the middle of a warzone. We're hiding out here to recuperate and rework our plans."

I blinked. "And Rika?"

The man didn't answer me. He took a sharp object from his brother, who'd just walked back in, and cut a large gash into my shoulder and down my arm.

"Ah! What the hell?!" I asked, though as soon as I tried to pull my arm inward to coddle it, Tano had both hands pinned down.

"Hold still, damn you." I could feel the blood dripping down my arm in an instant. Tano removed his hands from my own and wrapped them over the large gash he'd created. "You might want to breathe in… _very_ deeply."

I closed my eyes and waited for the pain before breathing in. In only a moment, it felt like he lit my arm on fire. The fire traveled down my arm and through my shoulder, across my chest and through the rest of my limbs.

I was quick to cry out, though it was involuntary. I could hear Tano laughing.

"Wimp," he laughed, removing his hands.

"You… you said breathe…," I growled, hugging my arm. When my skin gave into my grasp, I took in a deep breath, surprised. There was no pain… nothing hurt anymore.

"I didn't say scream," he continued to laugh.

Ixxes walked back in, carrying a wooden thermos of sorts. At closer examination, it seemed like bamboo. "Here," he told me, handing me the bottle. "Drink this. It'll replenish your system."

I looked up towards Tano. "Are you all insane?" I asked.

He smiled. "Look at your arm, then ask me again."

My shoulder was completely white again, and the large gash he'd created was gone as well. "I could've just gone Swampfire and done the same…," I rolled my eyes. "What'd you do with the poison that was in my system?" I asked, taking a drink of the water Ixxes had given me.

"It's in the water."

His words registered in my head the second I'd swallowed and it went down the wrong way, causing me to cough. "W-what the hell!"

They all laughed. "Come on, don't you have a sense of humor?!"

I clenched my jaw, handing Ixxes the water. "Here. Suddenly, I'm not so thirsty anymore."

He shook his head, laughing.

"We're just messing with you… Come on, Ben. You have to have some knowledge of what's humorous. We wouldn't let you near Rika otherwise!"

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Our sister loves you. We only assumed equal from you as well," Keo smiled.

I shook my head. "No… you must've misunderstood."

"He's right," Tano agreed with me. "Rika has it wrong."

"What do you mean?" Ixxes asked.

I sighed. "I… I sincerely thought I was going to die…," I spoke slowly, now knowing most everything that happened the night before. "I told Rika… that I loved her—give or take a few words, that's what I implied. What else would you expect me to do? Leave her empty-handed, hoping I would come back some day? No… I couldn't hurt her like that.

"So I told her what I felt right then and there. If it wasn't for my untimely death only a few hours later I wouldn't have said _shit_! I wouldn't have meant it."

Tano, Tak, and Keo sat down.

"You're lying." Tano shook his head.

"No, I'm not."

"That's true too," Tano hummed. "You're saying… You didn't want to give in because you knew it wouldn't have been what you truly felt…"

I nodded. "Rika was trying so hard to get me to break under pressure, but she doesn't get it. If she wants me to love her, she needs to give it time."

Keo smiled. "At least there's interest there. So, technically she won't lose either way."

"Lose?" I asked. "It's not a game," I shook my head.

"I know," he added. "But Tano implied she'd said the same."

I nodded. "Yeah… I like Rika… But she's pushing for something that just isn't going to happen. Not right now. Hell, how long have I known her?"

Tano sighed. "Not long enough. I would've done the same, Benjamin."

"Ben," I corrected him. "We seem to get along pretty well, and that's a good sign," I laughed, trying to lighten the mood and change the subject. "I have a hunch we'll be spending a lot of time together."

Tano nodded. "Got that right, Alien Boy."

I sighed. _So it runs in the family…_ "Where is Rika?" I asked again.

Keo shook his head, as if to shake off the last conversation. He quickly smiled. "Oh, she's on a scouting mission."

"_Duguan aptal!_" Ixxes growled, slapping the back of Keo's head. "You're not supposed to say anything!"

I smiled. "When will she be back?" I asked Tano.

Tak responded for him. "Soon. We left her out in the field this morning. That's when she contacted you."

"Oh," I looked back down. "That reminds me. How long has it been since I saw you in the jail?"

"About seven hours," Tano nodded.

"Damn… And it's still morning, I assume? Rika kept mentioning that her nights were much longer than ours back on Earth."

Keo nodded. "Our nights are substantially longer than Earth's."

I sighed. "If that doesn't cause some serious jetlag…"

Another large earthquake shook the ground.

"Rika!" Tak shouted, quickly rushing out of the room. Tano quickly followed after.

I watched his exit, then turned towards the other brothers. "Where is he going? Is she going to be all right?!"

The brothers' eyes shifted around the room.

"Sorry, Bro. Only Tano knows those kind of things," Ixxes told me.

"Well?" I urged. "Aren't you two going to do something to help?" I asked, getting to my feet.

"Right!" the brothers agreed together, rushing out of the room with me.


	2. Don't Touch Me

**One thing I thought I should explain are the brothers' names. I know Ixxes was a no-brainer when I told you how to pronounce it, but I didn't realize the rest were potentially difficult as well. So let's see… Tano (tahh-noh) Tak (Tack) Keo (Key-oh) and Ixxes (Ick-sez, naturally)**

**Hoped that helped anyone that was confused.**

_I Hate You More!  
__Don't. Touch. Me._

_Ben_

"What're your orders, Bro?" Tak shouted.

I looked around. I was boss here? Good. My turn. "Ixxes, Keo! Take the bomb. Can you catch it?" The two nodded. "Good. Tak, Tano, take the front! I'm going after Rika."

"Right, Bro!" Tak nodded, leading his brother off towards enemy lines.

I sighed. Who was better in this situation? Big Chill seemed to be my favorite lately. What about Jetray? He'd be fast enough, but powerful enough? Echo Echo would be annoying and distracting, but what about comforting to Rika? Who knows if she's hurt or not. Humongousaur would just smash everything. Chromastone wouldn't be much help. He might be pretty but he won't help me in this case.

Who's left? Goop, Spidermonkey, Brainstorm, Alien X… Swampfire! Perfect! Almost indestructible and perfect to blast through enemy lines without much worry. I grasped the Omnitrix and turned it to the left. "Damn thing," I growled, seeing the faceplate still flashing. "What's wrong with you?" I quickly pressed down the faceplate and ran after Rika.

"Swampfire!"

"Ben! Be careful. Rika's not focused. She might hurt you!"

I laughed. "She tried that _last_ time I was Swampfire. Went _right _through me."

Tano rolled his eyes. "Just be careful, Bro."

I nodded, continuing on. I smiled, a line-up of warriors in my direction. The human-like creatures quickly focused on me. Their masks seemed to free them from Swampfire's stench, something I was glad to be able to escape.

They quickly began firing at me and their bullets passed right through me. "Whoa, hey, guys. If you wanted to turn up the heat you could've just asked," I laughed, holding my hands out toward the men. Just as soon as they'd fired at me, I literally fired at them. They were quick to run away and I continued through the lines.

It wasn't hard to spot Rika, seeing as bodies were lying around in a circular pattern around her. She was fending for herself surprisingly well. I hadn't seen her fight for herself, considering every time we were forced to team up we also split up.

I stood a ways back, watching her fighting style. It was similar to what Gwen was taught. Karate… It had an elegant twist to it, though, with a malevolent sadistic side welded on the side. It was an extremely dangerous fighting style—if you ran into anyone using it. I smiled.

She's changed out of the clothes I'd bought her. I didn't expect much else—she never liked them to begin with. Her brother's must've supplied her with her traditional clothing, considering they were wearing traditional attire. In further examination, I could tell she also had a shield surrounding her entire right arm and hand. Maybe it was what she used for battle gear?

I laughed, walking through the persistent opponents to lend a hand. "Need some—?"

Rika screamed, turning around. She quickly rammed her metal-gloved fist into my back and through my stomach.

I sighed. "Again with this?"

Rika slowly pulled her hand back through. "B-Ben?"

I smiled. "No thanks to your brothers, I'm here."

"_Ko kuyu_…," she grimaced, quickly wrapping her arms around from my back to my stomach.

"I know I smell, I've been hearing that for six years, thank you." I quickly looked up, the confused men surrounding us quickly picking the fight back up. "Uh… Rika… as much as I'd like to save your ass, this isn't exactly a good time. I'm exhausted."

"I'm not letting go again," she growled.

I groaned, "Fine." Now I had to find an escape before I was overtaken by alien warriors. "Are these guys even aliens?" I asked her. There seemed to be absolutely no difference between them and myself. Were they human?

Rika shook her head. "They're from Planet 42…. Your equivalent of Area 51. I… wouldn't poke at it. Just run. They're stronger than humans."

I nodded. "If you would just let go I could get us out of here." Every time I tried to evade one of their attacks, Rika made it ten times harder to move around.

"Nuh-uh," she objected again.

"T-Tano?!" I called out. "I-Ixxes?! KEO?!"

"What?" Keo asked dejectedly, appearing before Rika and I.

"Well, fine then. I'll do it myself. Get off of me!" I shouted at Rika. When she clutched onto me tighter, I groaned, releasing the vines Rika was holding onto. Rika's arms slipped right through and I was able to turn around and pick her up.

"Get moving, Alien Boy," Keo groaned, running off.

I quickly readjusted my grip on Rika and ran off towards the base. Rika kept fidgeting and struggling in my arms. "Hold still, damn it!"

Rika growled.

I pushed aside the door, kicking it shut behind me. "Will you tell me what the hell has gotten into you?!" I demanded, setting her back on her feet and deactivating the Omnitrix.

"You," she smiled, rushing up to hug me again.

I held my arms out from my sides, undecided of what do to.

"I knew you would come help us," she breathed, burying her face in my chest. "Normally I would make a joke about why you have no shirt, but I don't think I want to ask."

I rolled my eyes, resting my arms around her. "…Go ahead."

She smiled. "No thanks, I'm perfectly happy right here." And _that_ was actually a crack in itself. "Plus, you fit in, now. Most men on my planet don't wear shirts as commonly as Earth people do."

I sighed. "We're in the middle of a fight, Rika. Could you at least save this until later? Please?"

Rika looked up. "You're acting different. What are you hiding?"

Ixxes rushed in. "What are you guys doing in here?! We're—Oh. Hey, I thought you said you didn't love her."

I groaned. "Great timing, stupid."

Rika slowly pushed herself off of me. "But… you said…" Her eyes slowly shifted up towards me.

Ixxes back out of the room slowly. "I'll just… give you guys…" He stopped, running out.

When I didn't answer, she looked back down.

"Look, I didn't lie to you," I told her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't. Touch. Me," she growled, jerking her shoulder away. "You didn't lie to me Tennyson… but you didn't tell me the truth." Her eyes looked at me sharply, her stare burning. The metal on her hand screeched quietly as she clenched her fist.

"I don't know how you survived, but you… you would've been better off dead." Her eyes shot towards the door and she made no buts about leaving quickly. Knowing Rika, there was no point to rushing after her. It was a two second fight and she would turn around and change the subject soon enough.

Why did I feel so bad about it, then?

"Rika, come on…," I called after her, changing my mind. I quickly turned around and rushed out of the base, looking for her.

"What?!" she growled angrily, taking out all aggression on whoever she could get her hands on. I tried to stay a few feet back.

I circled through the Omnitrix as fast as I could, making a quick decision on a hero. "You can't be mad at me." I told her just before making a transformation.

"Oh? Why not?"

"I was going to _die._ What did you expect me to say?" I asked her in the same breathy voice I'd been so keen on using. _Damn. Good choice, Tennyson. Sure, you can kick ass and make snow cones out of these guys, but you won't exactly win an argument with "Mr. Quiet" Big Chill._

"I'm sorry I hurt you, I didn't mean to lead you on, maybe?!" she shouted.

"Lead you on?" I asked, confused. "I told you I didn't like you."

"You said you weren't going to give in," she corrected me.

I grumbled. "Semantics!"

"Then why'd you turn around and basically tell me you love me, huh?" she asked as she turned around, her voice shaking as the tears filled her eyes. A large, circular wall of strange translucent energy surrounded us, like something Gwen my pull up at a time like this. It was much stronger, however, and withstood many attacks, including a rather large rocket launched in our direction.

"…I…. didn't lie to you, Rika."

"Yeah, well, you didn't tell me the truth, either," she repeated. "I'd smack you if you weren't some pathetic moth creature."

I frowned. "Necrofriggian," I corrected her, deactivating the Omnitrix. "Go ahead."

She looked at me for a moment, the wall around us quickly disappearing. ".... You're not worth it anymore." And she walked off, killing anyone that stood in her pathway to her brothers.

I just stood there, in awe that she didn't even try. It wasn't like her not to fight back… The small things, I could understand her passing off just once, but this wasn't something that could go unnoticed. Rika didn't fight back…

My eyes shifted around the battlefield. Was I needed here, anymore?

Tano and Tak had the front lines. Keo and Ixxes took care of any fast-moving enemies or those carrying bombs and missiles. Their strategy was a good one. I couldn't pull it off alone, but that didn't mean they couldn't handle it themselves.

It was five against an entire army, and from the looks of it there are plenty more where that came from.

Rika… She may not care what happens to me… but that still doesn't change anything on my end. I'd fight to the death to keep her alive, I've already proven that. Fighting for someone isn't as rewarding if they don't give anything in return, even if it is just as simple as a smile, or a thank you. Rika probably wouldn't even give me the time of day, now, let alone gratitude for helping along with the war.

I sighed.

I was obligated to stay, whether she wanted me to or not. I didn't know if the jail was after me again for escaping, or if the jail was still in-tact (considering I knew nothing of what happened during the time I was Alien X) but there was no chance I was going to let Rika down now. A girl broke down, crying, begging to me to help her…

I'm not going back on my word. Never again.


	3. The Last Straw

**I have a small issue. Dell replaced my computer and chapter 3 of Lifeline left with it. This is a re-write, so it may suck. Also, since I'm not sure if I've already implemented the fact that Ben can hear Aikka, I'm going to (re)introduce it here. Forgive me if the continuity is screwed up.**

I Hate You More!  
_The Last Straw_

_Ben_

"Hungry?" Tak asked me quietly.

I shook my head. "Not particularly hungry, no." My mind was focused on a much larger issue, anyway.

The brothers sighed. "Ben, you can't dwell on this. Rika… This is just how Rika is. She gets very attached and she doesn't want to let go. But… but if you mess with her in _any_ way, she'll make you pay for it."

"Sounds like a bad girlfriend," I laughed nervously. "Are… are you absolutely sure she can't hear me?"

Keo nodded. "She's literally tuning you out. She can't hear any of us right now."

I sighed.

"…Good point," Tano muttered. "We need to get working on a plan."

_Good point? Who is he talking to?_

Tano saw my hesitation and quickly addressed it. "…I forgot, you're human." He glanced over at the cat to my left before reaching out for me. "Hold still."

I furrowed my brow as a hand held either side of my skull. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Only a moment later, I could hear quiet laughter.

"The boy is crazy. You really want to give him that power and add one more bit of insanity to the list?"

I looked down. "Shut up, would you?" I blinked, This wasn't one of the brothers talking, now. The young, intelligent voice came directly from an off-white fur ball resting against my leg.

He laughed again. "It's nice to finally communicate with you directly, Benjamin."

I sighed. I've seen a lot of strange things in my lifetime, but I didn't think I'd ever get over a talking cat. "Plan…. What were you saying about a plan?"

"We really should work on a plan for today. We can't hide out here forever. They'll find us sooner than later, then we'll really have no place to hide," the kitten nodded.

Tano agreed. "Ben, I know it gets monotonous, but you have to be able to offer something to the fight. We can't just keep attacking the soldiers—they _literally_ have an endless supply. We will die of exhaustion before they give up on us. We have to attack the base directly."

I nodded. "I have a list, just ask."

"No. I already know what you can offer. We need something new."

Rika reached out, filling up her bowl with a second helping of a hearty stew.

I watched her closely. "Can she see me?" I waved my hand in front of her face and she quickly shot out, gripping my wrist. Her eyes locked on mine only for a moment, but long enough to burn an impression. She quickly let go, returning to her dinner.

I pulled my hand back, rubbing my wrist. "Guess that answers that question…"

"Focus!" Keo alerted me. "We don't have very long before we must leave."

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, contemplating all the options that had saved me in a fight before. "Well… the Omnitrix has been known to flip out more than once before. Ever since Kevin hacked into it, it's never been stable. It's partially under control now, but with the injection I received not to long ago, who knows what its stability is."

Ixxes smiled.

"What do you mean stable?" Tano asked.

"It's been known to glitch, or pick an alien at random. More recently, however, it's picked from unknown DNA samples… aliens I haven't exactly had experience with."

"Ah! Perfect! Ben, what would you say the probability of forcing a glitch would be?"

"It's pretty damn rare. I'd say slim to none."

His expression fell flat. "No," he objected.

"Tano, the likelihood of me being able to force a glitch with as little power as the Omnitrix supplies is extremely slim! Quick changes can _wreck_ the Omnitrix, then we'd really be out of luck."

He shook his head. "Benjamin, we must take that risk. How much power do you have?"

"…It's full, I haven't used it in over twenty-four hours."

"How many 'quick changes' do you estimate you will be able to perform before it gives out?"

I sighed. "If it doesn't break, or refuse an operation, I could probably get about ten, maybe twelve max."

Tano closed his eyes, shaking his head dejectedly. "All right, it'll have to do. I have a back-up plan if that doesn't work."

"Mind sharing?" Rika asked quietly.

"No. Not until we know for sure that our first plan won't work."

I nodded, trying to ignore the fact that Rika was now, apparently, listening.

"How are we going to get into the base, though?" Tano contemplated.

"We can use this," Ixxes offered, holding out a strange mask.

I smiled. "That's my ID mask, isn't it?"

He nodded. "You left it on Earth, you simpleton."

I shook my head. Better not to question it. I had to tell myself that.

Aikka yawned. "Getting past the enemy will be difficult. That much I have grasped from travelling—by force—with Benjamin. We need to blend in."

Tak quickly became very interested in the conversation. "Keo, can you replicate this mask?"

Keo gently removed the device from Ixxes' grasp. "With Ixxes' help, yes. It's a simple design, it shouldn't do too much damage to replicate it."

I smiled.

"Okay. Tak, you come with me. Ixxes, Keo, you stay back here with Rika and Ben and replicate the mask only _once_. We're going to keep the soldiers busy for a while. Rika, you're going to infiltrate the base with Ben."

Rika's eyes widened. "NO! I am _not_ going anywhere with _him!"_

I sighed. I wasn't going to get involved in this one and make everything worse again.

Aikka growled. "Would you rather _die?!_ I agree what he did was inexcusable, but the least you could do is think about your brothers… your planet… your home! You're being extremely selfish, Rika…"

Rika looked down. "…Fine, but you better know there isn't a chance in hell I'm cooperating with him."

Tano shook his head. "Well, you're not the one giving the orders, now are you? He's got the Omnitrix. If you want things to go well, you're going to have to listen to him. We have to do whatever keeps the Omnitrix working perfectly. If it runs out of power, we're screwed. Got that?" he scolded his sister.

She blinked. "…Whatever."

"Ben, get to it. Come on, Tak." He stood up, helping his brother to his feet. The two quickly escaped the hut, and everyone began working on their designated jobs. Ixxes and Keo began setting up a workstation, and Rika left the room without another word.

Rika didn't have a job to do as of then, so she was probably just escaping.

"Oh, no. Sister, you better get back here. You're not leaving," Keo interjected, quickly standing up to chase after her. "If you're working with Ben, you have to make sure everything goes well. And you can't exactly do that if you're in another room."

"To hell with you!" I heard her object.

I sighed, activating the Omnitrix. Twelve changes, max, right? How… how damaging could that be? If the Omnitrix really wanted to be helpful, it would take energy from myself to recharge faster, but that would also be an unfavorable option, since it would hinder my own capabilities.

Azmuth said never to mess with the Omnitrix. He'd warned me I would break it if I ever tried to force a random occurrence. He'd disowned me and the Omnitrix once after Kevin and I broke into it. That wasn't good, but at least I knew some consequences to hacking into the tech on my wrist.

However, this isn't a hack. We're forcing statistics to rise by raising the occurrences.

If this is so safe… why am I scared?

Without looking, I spun the faceplate around, as if to shuffle the aliens around. Once it stopped spinning, I hesitantly pressed down the faceplate, closing my eyes tightly.

Opening my eyes, everything was tinted an odd green. "Goop," I sighed, deactivating the Omnitrix. Another activation. "Grey Matter? Aww, I thought I got rid of you." And another. "You better pray I don't get Humongousaur," I chuckled, seeing a pattern already forming as the Omnitrix had chosen Lodestar.

Though, the pattern was quickly broken as Spidermonkey was its next chosen form. "How many is that now?" I asked, scratching my head with my tail.

Keo slowly backed into the room, dragging Rika in, kicking and screaming.

"Need some help?" I asked, showing him the sets of hands I could lend.

He laughed. "She may be stronger than you, but I'm stronger than her. I can handle it."

I nodded, returning to my human form. "I don't think this is going to work."

"You have to try, Ben," Ixxes shrugged. "You're on number four, too."

I nodded, trying again. And again. And again. By number ten, I was already feeling drained and we'd still made no progress.

"Nothing?" Keo asked, keeping a close eye on Rika.

I shook my head, sitting down. "Can I take a break, please?"

He shook his head. "Two more. That'll reach your maximum, won't it?"

I shrugged. "It could be twelve, it could be more. But this is tiring… I could be SOL on the next one…"

"Go ahead," he nodded.

I stood up slowly, holding my head. "One more… that's all I can promise." I activated the Omnitrix and spun around the faceplate. Before I could even think to press down the faceplate, I held my head, my vision fading in and out. This wasn't normal. The Omnitrix had its own power, didn't it? So why was I feeling so drained?

Feeling incredibly unstable, I fell to my knees, then over onto my side. My limbs wouldn't respond when I begged them to stand back up. I was on the ground, and soon had two blue skinned men hovering around me. I was able to open my eyes for a moment and watch as Rika stood there. Concern was there, I could see it, but the will to help was quickly buried as she left the room, her tear-filled eyes torn from my own when she realized I was watching her.

I sighed, closing my eyes. I quickly lost consciousness.

ooo

"No! No, don't touch him. Let him come to on his own."

"Pff. I wouldn't waste your time on the bastard."

"Shut up, Rika. Don't think I didn't see you leaving the room in tears."

"What… what the hell is he?"

"He's some kind of… orb?" Rika pondered aloud.

"I'm not entirely sure… It doesn't look like it's from this galaxy."

"No, it must be from a nebula. He looks like a star, to be honest."

The strangest feeling surged through my body, but I still couldn't will my eyes to open.

"He's made out of gas… and dust… A star would be a probably answer, but why he hasn't disintegrated in our atmosphere is incredible!"

Slowly, I was able to move again. My arms, my legs… I asked them to move, yet nothing responded. It felt like they were nonexistent, like my limbs had been removed. I began to panic, afraid of what had happened to me. However, there was this sense of weightlessness about me.

Maybe… maybe one of the brothers, or even Rika, could levitate objects or people?

I sighed, but the voice that came along with it was foreign and frightening. "Wh-what the hell?" I asked, clearly disturbed.

Electronic and warped, my voice played out stranger than Echo Echo's, or even Lodestar's. The fact that it wasn't my voice scared me the most. I hadn't transformed before passing out. I know I hadn't. I couldn't scavenge the energy before I fell.

"Ah! Ahah! I know what he is! He's an _Spectraltonnau! _I can't believe I didn't see that before."

I quickly blinked what felt like my eyes, watching the brothers. My vision seemed normal, for now.

Keo smacked the back of Ixxe's head, insulting him in their native tongue. "Amira would've failed you for that one," he growled.

Ixxes sighed.

"Look, the boy's a ball of glowing dust. Big-fucking-deal. Can we drop the subject, now?" Rika rolled her eyes.

Keo shook his head. "Benjamin? Are you coherent?"

"I'm sure he is," Aikka smiled.

"I… I am…," I muttered, looking down. I was about four, maybe five feet above the ground, just hovering there.

"What… what do we do now?" Ixxes asked.

Keo shrugged. "Have you any idea what this creature can do?"

I shook my head, yet there was no visible movement. "No… This… is weird, even for me." I closed my eyes, reopening them to an odd array of colors. "Whoa!" The spectrum was laid out like infrared.

"Holy—!" Ixxes jumped back, startled. "Did-did he just change color?"

I blinked again, the infrared perspective remaining as I reopened my eyes. "What? Why? What color was I before?"

"Just white… Now you're red," Keo told me, remaining calm unlike his brother.

I looked over to Rika, whose heat patterns seemed to betray her outward expression. Her face looked oddly warm, mainly around her cheeks and eyes. Her hands were also a deep red… This creatures instincts told me this meant sadness. The warmth of her face said she was on the verge of tears, and the warmth of her hands meant she was trying desperately to hide it, fidgeting with her hands.

I sighed.

A different level of colors covered the brothers, Keo being true to his outward appearance and Ixxes as well—calm and frightened, respectively.

I turned back from the brothers and, apparently, floated over to Rika. "Rika… you look sad." The creature's personality was quite… nice. It seemed to have a childish view of right and wrong, as well as the storybook rule of being a gentleman. It was kind of annoying, but I couldn't act otherwise.

She laughed wryly. "My ass. I just think we should get back to planning, not focused on what kind of screwed-up creature you are now."

I sighed. "Rika…"

"Don't give me that! I know that tone. You're trying to make amends. Don't even try."

Ixxes walked over. Just by sensing, I could feel anger arise.

"I don't understand why you're so bent on not letting me explain myself!"

"Because you're a goddamned bastard! You don't deserve the time of day, let alone time to explain yourself…"

Ixxes growled quietly, becoming fed up with our fighting.

"I'm trying my best and you won't even listen to what I have to say!"

"You don't fucking deserve it!"

That was the last straw. Ixxes stepped through me and stood between us.

"TIME OUT!"


End file.
